


And So Gerard Keay Ended

by superqueerdanvers



Series: Flashes Like Camera Bulbs [1]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: (gerry still dies but it's better than how it happens in canon), Bittersweet, Cancer, Canonical Character Death, Fix-It of Sorts, Hospitals, Mentioned Gertrude Robinson, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:46:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26118214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/superqueerdanvers/pseuds/superqueerdanvers
Summary: When Gerry was first admitted to the hospital, Gertrude came with him. She sat with him or in the waiting room as the doctors ran test after test and tried treatment after treatment. As it became clear that he wasn’t going to get better, however, she began to drift away. She was cool and businesslike when she visited him, and they both knew that when she asked how he felt, she was just being polite and didn’t want an honest answer. Time went on, and he got sicker, and she visited less and less often. That didn’t mean he was alone, however. His boyfriends made sure of that.
Relationships: Oliver Banks/Gerard Keay/Michael | The Distortion (The Magnus Archives)
Series: Flashes Like Camera Bulbs [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1926604
Comments: 10
Kudos: 28





	And So Gerard Keay Ended

**Author's Note:**

> In canon, Gerry died less than a day after being admitted to the hospital, but I'm stretching that out so he's in the hospital for closer to two weeks. I'm also tweaking the timeline so Oliver already has his powers at this point.
> 
> I was thinking about and listening to "Ragnarok V: End of the Line" and "Elysian Fields" by the Mechanisms while writing this, so if you want to listen to music while reading this, I recommend those!

When Gerry was first admitted to the hospital, Gertrude came with him. She sat with him or in the waiting room as the doctors ran test after test and tried treatment after treatment. As it became clear that he wasn’t going to get better, however, she began to drift away. She was cool and businesslike when she visited him, and they both knew that when she asked how he felt, she was just being polite and didn’t want an honest answer. Time went on, and he got sicker, and she visited less and less often. That didn’t mean he was alone, however. His boyfriends made sure of that.

Gerry had called them when he realized he was dying, and before the call was even over, Michael and Oliver were stepping out a door that hadn’t been in the hospital room a minute ago. Oliver collapsed into the chair next to Gerry’s bed, looking a bit queasy. “Michael, you know I don’t like travelling by your corridors!”

“Gerry is more important!” Michael sat down next to Gerry on the bed.

Oliver sighed and nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. You could’ve given me a heads-up, though.” He looked at Gerry and froze. “You’re dying.”

“That’s what I was saying.”

Oliver shook his head. “No, I know, it’s just… It’s one thing to hear you say it, and another to…” His eyes moved over Gerry’s body, and Gerry realized he was looking at the veins of death that must be covering him. “To see it.” He winced and shook his head again. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said it, that was insensitive—“

“Hey,” Gerry said softly, taking his hand. “I called you, remember? I’m the one who brought it up.”

Michael took Gerry’s other hand, careful not to cut him. “What do you need? We could get you food, or… uh… flowers? Or… Oliver, what do you get dying people?”

Gerry laughed a little and squeezed their hands. “Just... be here. Stay with me.”

Oliver squeezed back. “Of course.”

* * *

They stayed with him as much as they could. Michael would hold him close, kissing him and running his fingers through his hair. The familiar feeling of Michael’s sharp fingers running lightly over his scalp never failed to relax Gerry, even if Michael did tend to leave his hair a tangled mess. But what did he expect to happen, letting the Distortion play with his hair? That was when Oliver would take over, gently working through the knots and talking quietly about his favorite books until Gerry fell asleep.

But they couldn’t stay with him all the time. For one thing, the nurses insisted that Gerry needed to rest, and they periodically shooed Michael and Oliver out of the room to make sure he did so. For another, Michael could only hold a form that wouldn’t scare the nurses or hurt Gerry’s head too much for so long. Eventually, he had to shift back into his usual form and return to his corridors. Oliver tried to stay close, sleeping in the waiting room when he wasn’t allowed in Gerry’s room. But when he jolted awake, gasping and in a cold sweat, from yet another dream, Gerry ordered him to get a room at the nearby hotel. Of course, he still dreamed of the mass of tendrils winding through the hospital, but it was better than sleeping at his boyfriend’s deathbed.

* * *

The three of them were cuddling, Gerry curled into Oliver’s chest and Michael’s arms around them both, when Gerry brought up what he wanted done with his body. “I want to be cremated, when I…” He swallowed. “When I die. I’ve seen enough of what someone can do with a body, and I don’t want any part of it. And I don’t want Gertrude anywhere near me.”

Oliver frowned. “You think she would do something to your body? I know she’s not exactly maternal, but surely she wouldn’t…”

Gerry tilted his head towards Michael. “She’s not above sacrificing her assistants for the _greater good_ ,” he said bitterly. “And I wouldn’t put it past her to have learned how to make pages for the skin book before she destroyed my mother’s page. If she thought she could get more use out of me that way, she’d do it.”

“She won’t,” Michael said, his voice quiet but fierce. “I won’t let her.”

Gerry thought he saw Michael’s fingers grow a little sharper and smiled. “Thank you.”

“How exactly are we going to keep your body away from her? Doesn’t the hospital think she’s your mother?” Oliver asked.

Gerry nodded. “Yeah. You’ll have to get my body away before she gets here.”

“We could hide you in my corridors!” Michael suggested.

Gerry chewed on his lip thoughtfully. “That’s not a bad idea. Get me through your door as soon as I’m dead…”

“Then find somewhere far away to cremate you before Gertrude catches up,” Oliver added, nodding. “It could work.”

* * *

The next day, the hospital called Gertrude to let her know her “son” didn’t have much time left, and she should come say goodbye. She didn’t come. In spite of himself, Gerry was disappointed. “I thought she’d at least _pretend_ to care,” he muttered. “Not that I actually want her here, but…”

Oliver squeezed his hand. “I understand.”

“Actually… about that…” Michael said slowly.

Gerry glanced at him, then winced and looked away as a wave of pain and nausea rolled through him. “I _may_ have slashed her tires,” Michael continued.

Gerry laughed. “I fucking love you, Michael!” Softer, he added, “I love both of you.”

He tugged Oliver closer, and Michael and Oliver repositioned themselves so he was sandwiched between them, facing Oliver. He met Oliver’s eyes. “I’m scared,” he whispered.

Oliver looked away. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“Still. I love you, Gerry.” When he met Gerry’s gaze again, there were tears in his eyes.

“I love you, too,” Michael murmured into Gerry’s hair.

The edges of his vision blurred, and he clutched at Oliver and Michael’s hands. “How long?”

“Less than a minute,” Oliver said quietly.

“Kiss me.”

Michael hugged him and pressed kisses to the eye tattoos on the back of his neck. Oliver kissed him gently on the lips. And with Michael’s arms around him and Oliver’s lips on his, Gerry died.


End file.
